National Board Of Review Declares SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Best Film Of 2008!

I've a feeling you're going to be reading slight variations on that headline over the next few months. Though the politicking has only just begun, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE seems to be the movie of the moment. It's so undeniable, even the flaky National Board of Review had to bestow their top honor upon it - though it looks like they really wanted to go with Clint Eastwood's curmudgeonly ode to tolerance, GRAN TORINO.
GRAN TORINO is going to be an interesting player in this year's Oscar race if only because reactions are clearly split along generational lines (oldsters love it, youngsters not so much). Obviously, the NBR fell hard for the film, including it in their top ten, while dishing out Best Actor to Clint and Best Original Screenplay to Nick Schenk. I don't know if this run of good fortune is going to continue through the critics' awards (very doubtful), but I can definitely see the Golden Globes nominating the hell out of this thing. As for the Academy... it's Clint. They'd retroactively nominate THE GAUNTLET if they could. He's a cinch for Actor if nothing else.
I'm not going to get too worked up over the rest of the NBR's choices, but it is nice to see geek fave LET THE RIGHT ONE IN shortlisted. Also glad to see SON OF RAMBOW and MISTER FOE getting some love. What do you think?

Awards for 2008:
Best Film
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Top Ten Films
(In alphabetical order)
BURN AFTER READING
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
DEFIANCE
FROST/NIXON
GRAN TORINO
MILK
WALL-E
THE WRESTLER
Best Foreign Language Film
MONGOL
Top Five Foreign Films
THE EDGE OF HEAVEN
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
ROMAN DE GARE
A SECRET
WALTZ WITH BASHIR
Best Documentary
MAN ON WIRE
Top Five Documentaries
AMERICAN TEEN
THE BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON)
DEAR ZACHARY
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED
Top Independent Films
(In alphabetical order)
FROZEN RIVER
IN BRUGES
IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS
MR. FOE
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
SNOW ANGELS
SON OF RAMBOW
WENDY AND LUCY
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
THE VISITOR
Best Actor
CLINT EASTWOOD, Gran Torino
Best Actress
ANNE HATHAWAY, Rachel Getting Married
Best Supporting Actor
JOSH BROLIN, Milk
Best Supporting Actress
PENELOPE CRUZ, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Ensemble Cast
DOUBT
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor
DEV PATEL, Slumdog Millionaire
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress
VIOLA DAVIS, Doubt
Best Director
DAVID FINCHER, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Directorial Debut
COURTNEY HUNT, Frozen River
Best Adapted Screenplay
SIMON BEAUFOY, Slumdog Millionaire and ERIC ROTH, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Spotlight Award
MELISSA LEO, Frozen River and RICHARD JENKINS, The Visitor
Best Original Screenplay
NICK SCHENK, Gran Torino
Best Animated Feature
WALL-E
William K. Everson Award For Film History
MOLLY HASKELL and ANDREW SARRIS
The BVLGARI Award for NBR Freedom of Expression
TRUMBO

The New York Film Critics Circle will be announcing their awards soon. With Armond White serving as the chair, you should make like a Gemini and expect the unexpected.

It is nothing but a curiosity, at best. A complete misfire. Some nice performances, fun to watch, but ultimately very tonally all over the place. The drama didn't work, but it wasn't funny enough for me to overlook or disregard that. Kinda unfortunate when the funniest parts are the meta parts that comment on how crazy the plot is.

The Dark Knight is the best picture, I think. I didn't think it would be, even right after seeing it. But all of the big contenders are showing more and more cracks.
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I can't wait to see Benjamin Button and The Wrestler, but everything else this year was trumped by the best Superhero picture ever, in my mind.

loved Slumdog, one thing I would have changed. I would have had Latika bring up the idea of destiny in their childhoods. All this bad shit happens to them as kids and Jamal talks about how if you're born in the slums of India it's your destiny to stay in those slums forever. Then Latika wraps her arms around him and tells him it's theor destiny to grow up and live in a big house and get married etc. That notion sticks with the kid even as Latika loses hope in the idea. Again, really loved Slumdog but it felt like 2 different movies almost, the second half being super heavy on fate and destiny and the first half being much more realistic.

I really liked it, though I was a bit disappointed only cause I was expecting 'teh best film evar!' from the absolute amount of raving going on for this thing.
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Man On Wire is still my number one pick for 2008, followed by maybe Wall-E (if not only because it was insanely cute and enjoyable, but not gratuitously so).

The gameshow MC is such a sleazebag, it's awesome. He would be great in the Richard Dawson role in a Bollywood adaptation of The Running Man. Anyway: fun movie, though I don't have any illusions about understanding India any better after having watched it. It does make you appreciate the life and opportunities that we all enjoy though, and that's cool.

I fear it's one of those movies the Academy will nominate because it "has to." Like Sideways, Babel, and Lost in Translation it's the token indie. Then again in Academy terms Shakespeare in Love > The Thin Red Line. I know it's been 10 years now. I don't want to let it go.

Is a shoddy, formless, mess, devoid of tension, trafficking in static symbols posing as characters(good brother, bad brother, token degraded female), and the hokiest of cliches. Sentimental drivel for those who find Richard Curtis to be a bit too complicated. Directed as if by an elderly relative shooting pictures of the grass. And the most inane usage of MIA I hope we'll have to endure. The National Board of Review has officially gone to shit!

Is a careful, definite, masterpiece; brimming with tension, and magisterially implementing timeless and classic character archs (good brother, bad brother, damsel in distress) to the point which what can easily be misconstrued as banal and trite to the darkened heart is surprisingly uplifting and joyful. Optimistic, full of hope, and paradoxically sensible for those who find Richard Curtis to be a bit too contrived. Directed as if by an elderly man, in his last days, seamlessly plotting the significant moments that has brought him to this point. And the most logical usage of MIA, as if she wrote the song for the film. The National Board of Review has officially redeemed itself.

Best film of the year, by far. Also, Jim Curry, if you see a movie more than once in a theatre it's because you adore that film. How is going to the theatre, not having a life? Movies are a part of life.

sits at number one for me right now, but I'm waiting to see the wrestler, gran torino, Benjamin Button, and Valkyrie. TDK totally transcended all expectations and destroyed genre conventions. Had perfect performances and jaw-dropping cinematography. What more can you ask for?

OK, so it's much better than "Crash". But it's a crowd-pleasing film with some serious split-personality issues... whimsical fantasy about a slack-jawed romantic, or harrowing and socially-important thriller about growing up poor in India? Rags-to-riches fable with mustache-twirling stock villains, or hyperkinetic fever-dream through India with torture, degredation, and murder? Some people love that the film delivers all of these things without a blink; I thought it gave the film a serious personality crisis. I respect the film, and love Danny Boyle's work, and predict it will win more than one "Best Picture" award, but it's not the masterpiece most reviewers seem to think it is.

I am tired of these stupid independent films always receiving these shitty awards, nods, and congratulations. It seems that whenever a foreign film comes to America or a film tackles gay issues or living with AIDS, that they get all this praise and hype. Same thing happened with Brokeback and Babel. Those movies sucked! Babel literally made me want to walk out of the theater, and some people were asking "What was that all about" as the credits rolled. However, because it dealt with real-life social problems, it was heralded as the best movie of the year. It fucking sucked! Was it great because it pushed the envelope by showing an Afghani boy jacking off while watching his sister get dressed? Or maybe it was when Brad Pitt fucked Cate Blanchett while she was sitting on a pedpan and dying? So romantic! It sucked, and so will this movie. So will Milk. They need to stop pandering to the foreign film committees and gay rights activists, and start making movies that aren't so lame. It's sad that almost every movie being made these days is a remake, a sequel, a shitty comedy, or a crapfest that relies on pushing decency to the limit in order to get attention.

... neither funny, good or entertaining. After the great NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, this was a bit disappointing for moi.
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If you wanna see a film that rightly deserves all the plaudits that BURN AFTER READING gets - check out IN BRUGES. Brilliant little film.

That's why it's so damn good, each question leads into another piece of his life. Very inventive. Yes, I know it's odd that the question's answers increased as he aged but, whatever, it's a movie. You could say alot of things about Slumdog, but I really wouldn't say "formless" at all.

the whole concept is very flawed and every year we have to go through this...how can u compare two different films, with different goals??? the real goal in these awards is getting the added exposure so that they can make more money...
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i know this is hardy an original thought...but please lets keep this in mind

there a fad and everything they do now is going to be something brilliant even if its really shit. Don't get me wrong I like there stuff and love there brand of humor, Miller's Crossing mya be my favorite film. But Burn After Reading was really not even in there top 5 let alone one of the years best. It was cute and mildly amusing, thats about it.
I haven't seen most of the Oscar baits yet but if TDK doesn't at least get some nominations for the big prizes then the Academy has lost touch. I also hope they don't give Eastwood awards just because hes a legend. TDK was an epic film that will be up there with Indiana Jones, Godfather, Star Wars etc as pop culture Icons for decades to come.
I really hope eastwood splits his own vote with Changeling and GT. I'd love to see Fincher get some big awards like Best Director/Best Picture, him or Nolan are deserving.

"In Bruges" is a fine example of an thoughtful and moving film that does not traffic in cliches. Unlike, the cornball garbage heap that is "Slumdog Millionaire". If you find it uplifting, you are Forrest Gump.

Visuals, people! Visuals! Don't let that be a slam against In Bruges. That's also one of the best movies of the year, and has my favourite line of 2008: "They're filming something... they're filming midgets!!!"

"Besides, there is no way in hell I would take my kid to a doctor like her. Creepy ghost lady." Yes! That was the point, summed up in one of the funniest scenes in the film - "I'll ask your mother to leave the room and then we can sort this out one on one." *Answers phone call, not dropping her freakin' EAT YOUR SOUL stare at a five year old*

Who are these people? Might have to wiki it. But for some reason, I do love hearing their nominations and awards. Remember last year when they had the Bucket List on there? It's almost as if they're throwing out titles and then looking at the Academy hopefully, grinning and shrugging, like "Huh, huh? Bucket List, yeah? No? Okay, how about Changeling? You guys like Eastwood, right? Eh? Eh? Eeehhhhh??" The Dark Knight IS my top movie of the year still, followed by Encounters At The End of the World, and like many others, I hadn't expected that at the start of the year. I'm dying to see Gran Torino, Benni Button (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W7xSgTtaj4), and Doubt.

Last year, in case anyone chooses to remember, these assholes had "The Bucket List" in their top 10 movies of the year. So even though I agree that "Burn After Reading" is definitely not one of the 10 best movies of the year, its at least 25000 times better than "The Bucket List".<Br><BR>
Also, between the two top ten lists they have this year, they've got maybe 7 or 8 of my favorite films from this year:<BR><BR>
THE DARK KNIGHT<br>
WALL-E<br>
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE<br>
THE WRESTLER<BR>
THE VISITOR<BR>
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED<BR>
and IN BRUGES<br><br>
Add "Iron Man", "PIneapple Express" and "The Signal" to that list, and that's just about what I think are the 10 best movies I've seen so far. (Still haven't seen Benjamin Button, Gran Torino, Doubt, Revolutionary Road, Valkyrie, The Reader, and about 5 others I think will be good).<br><br>
I also think they should give an award for worst movie of the year. Mainly cause I like to know what people think sucked as well as what was awesome. My early pick for worst movie of the year is "Jumper", and right behind that is "Australia". What a shitty fucking movie.

I think that there needs to be some kind of special mention for "Synecdoche, New York", which is probably the best movie of the year only in terms of ambition and scope. Its problem is that there's as much messy unfocused stuff in it as there is lucid, shimmering genius. I still find tons of shit to think about even two months later.

I absolutely adored that film. It was brilliant in its simplicity the characters were great and it should prove beyond a doubt the immense talent that Colin Farrell has, yes hes made some shitty movies but when hes on his game hes one of the best of his generation.